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Including students to address gun violence

Health, Safety, and Well-being
November 9, 2015 Scott Peska Waubonsee Community College

September 25, 2015 I was standing on a stage at the Midwest First Year Conference giving a brief “Pecha Kucha” style talk on the need for higher education professionals to reload and take action against gun violence.  I shared that it had been 10 days since the last shooting on a college, which was at Delta State University on September 15, 2015.  I also informed based on a recent FBI report that these active shootings are happening at intervals about every two weeks and that school shootings are becoming commonly, once a month occurrences.  Sadly, seven days later on October 1, 2015 our collective hearts sank again, as the media began tolling the deaths of the shootings at Umpqua Community College. 

When I got home that evening, my daughter shared that her 2nd grade class practiced an intruder drill, that was coincidentally, scheduled on October 1st.   She said she didn’t like the loud speaker constantly yelling, “Intruder Alert! Intruder Alert! Intruder Alert!” over and over.  When I flipped on CNN, a familiar numbness settled in from the constant media coverage.  It brought memories of the 2007 Virginia Tech shootings and the 2008 Northern Illinois University shootings.  I reflected on how far we have yet to go on addressing this issue.

What hit me most profoundly is that my daughter, and our children, are being raised in a world where these shootings are becoming as common, if not more so, than violent weather (e.g. tornados) occurrences.  First-year students on our campuses likely have been participating in these type of drills since the seventh grade.  What are they learning from these drills?  That it is not “if” but when a violent shooting may occur at their school?  That they need to be prepared to run, hide, or fight?   While I do believe in being prepared, I worry that we are only preparing them to be reactionary to this violence.

In addition to preparing for the occurrences of these shootings, in my opinion, we should be arming our college students with the knowledge to advocate and influence change.  While bystander programs are excellent preventive measures we can take, I think we need to also empower students to become active, responsible citizens to aspire for change.

Let them know that it matters not the stance one has regarding the 2nd amendment.  Students should let everyone (businesses, legislators, leaders) know that this plague on their freedoms to an education unburdened by fear of indiscriminate gun violence needs to end.

When asked, “What can we really do?”  We can educate. We can inform. We can challenge and support students to learn about the different arguments central to this issue and why we need students to take action.  Here are a few specific things you can do:

  • Attend the 2016 NASPA Strategies Conference on Violence Prevention in January.
  • Become involved in the Campus Safety Knowledge Community and Enough is Enough campaign to promote peace on campuses
  • Bring speakers to campus to raise societal awareness about issues related to gun violence.
  • Write local, state, and federal legislators. They need to hear from constituents (students and educators) that this issue is important to you and should be important to them.
  • Contact businesses that sell weapons, such as Wal-mart (one of the largest seller of handguns and rifles in America) and demand stricter restrictions on gun sales or on requiring safety measures be sold with weapons.  Many shootings at k-12 institutions and suicides especially happen because a student has access to a family member’s weapon. Trigger locks sold with weapon purchases could minimize a number of gun-related deaths.  
  • Purchase and read the latest NASPA and ACPA joint publication, College in the Crosshairs: An Administrative Perspective on Prevention of Gun Violence available in the NASPA online bookstore.

My hope is that if you read this far that you’ll consider joining me on this journey to, as the late Zenobia Hikes shared in her 2008 address at the NASPA annual conference, “stem the tide of this societal violence.  Enough is Enough!”  Help bring this issue to your students beyond just helping them prepare for what to do when shootings start, help them prepare for making these shootings not occur.

About the author:
Dr. Scott Peska, currently serves Waubonsee Community College as Dean for Students. Previously, he served from 2008-2012 as the Director for the Office of Support & Advocacy, which provided direct assistance to the parents of victims and survivors of the February 14, 2008 shootings at Northern Illinois University.